Contact: billray@bedoeling.com

Reflections on our trip

We took 55 days to cover 2085 nm.  37 days running 257 engine tach hours traveling at an average of 56 nm each, shortest 23 nm and longest 107 nm, and 18 days stopped. 

25 nights at docks, most with power and other facilities, versus 30 nights at anchor or the one Walker Cove mooring buoy.  

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Pleasant surprises –

• Taking a dog along was fine in spite of the naysayers.   She was a delightful companion, a way to meet people, a reason to get off our rear ends and go ashore.  We were careful about bears ashore and keeping her inside underway, plus kept our pockets full of baggies ashore
   

• Jan, who has a life-long history of motion sickness, was a rock the whole trip thanks to Transderm Scop patches which really work for her.  This seems highly individual; someone else I talked to used a wrist system successfully
   

• The boat’s mechanical systems all worked when they needed to, even that flagging thermostat that hung on until Ketchikan.  No log, rock or ice damage.  Everyone stayed healthy.  Practically no insects.  All good luck we appreciate
   

• Weather only upset our schedule seriously for the few extra days in Ketchikan.  No fog or other long stormy waits this trip.  Rain heavy enough to make going ashore unpleasant was rare.  The more frequent overcast and drizzle just got ignored; all that lovely green has to come from somewhere

Changes  –

• It would be nice to add 10% more days for relaxing or waiting out unpleasant weather, and perhaps another 10% for shortening some run days to allow more evening relaxation time
   

• Kayak(s) for exploring coves and islands from anchor 
   

• Split our cell phones (AT&T and Verizon) for better coverage
   

• Find proper homes for the 10% of the stuff that kept getting in the way
   

• Learn how to make the weather fax work reliably

Your own trip –

If you don’t have a boat that is suitable for the full Inside Passage trip, there are other ways we've heard about that would get you close to this spectacular country and its friendly people:

• Small Cruise Ships (150 or fewer passengers) go places more like we did, emphasizing the Alaska and British Columbia experience instead of shipboard resort-like activities

• Take the Alaska State Ferry getting off at each stop for at least several days each:  walk, rent kayaks, charter fishing boats, take day trips by floatplane or boat, etc

• Trailer you own boat into Alaska by road or ferry, then explore and fish just like the Alaskan's do

If you do have the right boat (or can bareboat charter one), reasonable boating skills, disciplined preparation and the time, go enjoy it on your own!

Preparation –

The same boating skills that work for Desolation Sound cover this trip as well.  The big difference is that you will need to be more self-sufficient, hence good preparation is vital:

• A radar reflector is essential since commercial vessels rely on radar to help stand their watches in good weather and bad.  Absolutely no fiberglass or wood boat, sail or power, is a strong reliable radar target by itself

• Everything important should be working right when you leave; fix marginal items; carry backups, spares and a good tool kit

• You will be anchoring in deeper water than usual with large tidal ranges; an all-chain rode is very helpful, as are the Douglass guide books

• Supply points are small and farther apart past Cape Caution.  Plan water, food, medicine, film, laundry, communications and fuel accordingly

• Apply your own judgment to weather reports.  Fronts stall or move unpredictably.  Forecasts are worst-case time and place over big areas which need skeptical interpretation for go/look-see/no-go decisions

• Consider an EPIRB406, a radar, Canadian approved bear spray or long gun, and either a wet suit to unwrap a fouled prop or Spurs

• Use paper charts along with all those nice electronics; you can rent charts

• Do the trip vicariously by reading other people's accounts — then it won't really be your first time

• Plan a tentative itinerary with some slack; use it flexibly to take advantage of pleasant surprises and deal with delays

• Be prepared to have a wonderful time!

Some Planning Tools –

• Inside Passage Route Planning Maps North and South -- Fine Edge Productions

• Exploring Southeast Alaska, North and South Coast British Columbia -- Don Douglass and Reanne Hemingway-Douglass

• Waggoner Cruising Guide -- Robert Hale

• Northwest Boat Travel -- Anderson Publishing
   

• Small-boat Cruising to Alaska -- Leif Terdal

• Day by Day to Alaska -- Dale Petersen

• Charlie's' Charts North to Alaska -- Charles Wood

• How to cruise to Alaska without rocking the boat too much -- Walt Woodward

• Cruising Beyond Desolation Sound -- John Chappell

• Northwest Marine Weather -- Jeff Renner
   

• US Sail and Power Squadrons http://www.usps.org/ for learning

• http://oya.com/board/forums.html -- a Grand Banks board, but solid material about trawlers and cruising useful for most sail or power boats

• Passagemaker Magazine and their discussion list at http://www.trawlertravel.com/discus/board.html

• Chapman Piloting, Seamanship and Boat Handling – Elbert Maloney editor

• Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual -- Nigel Calder

• First Aid Companion – Dr Rob Haworth

• Best Tips from Women Aboard – Martia Russell editor

• Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast -- Hilary Stewart

• Nature of Southeast Alaska -- O'Claire, Armstrong and Carstensen

Other folk's Inside Passage logs –

• http://www.knottydog.com/

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